Christmas Cards

Now that it's finally after Thanksgiving I don't feel so bad about ONLY making Christmas cards for the next little while.  I still have a ways to go, but wanted to share some of the latest.

I decided to play around some more with the pocket card idea.  I have several metallic letter-sized envelopes I never use...so I thought I'd make a letter-sized pocket card as well. (Tutorial coming soon!)

I also finished up some of the smaller ones I was working on (tutorial for these here)

I'm having so much fun with my Silhouette portrait!  If you are thinking about getting one, I highly recommend it.  I love that you can download all the free fonts online and then cut them out with the Silhouette.  Such fun!

The inspiration from this card came from here.

I am adding to my collection of Spectrum Noir markers, so I couldn't wait to try something with red and green.  I love these markers, and the fact that they are so much less expensive than Copics!

Here is a simple card with the true meaning of Christmas.  I love Nativity Scenes and have been collecting them for years.  One of my favorites is an igloo with eskimos from Alaska where I served as a missionary a few years back.

This is a very simple one using two dimensional stickers.  I just drew in some gold lines to make the ornaments hang, and cut the text out on the Silhouette.

Thanks for stopping by and have a Very Merry Christmas!

Pocket card variation (with tutorial)

Today I have another version of the pocket card to share with you.  This one has a fold down flap in the front instead of the curved front I shared a couple of days ago and it's even easier to make!  

To start with, you'll need a piece of paper (double sided patterned works well) 8 1/2" x 5 3/4".

Turn the paper horizontally and using a scoring board, score down at 3/8" and 4 1/2" .

Then turn the paper vertically and score at 5/8".

Next you'll score at 5" just down to the line you made at 4 1/2" horizontally.  (This will create the fold down flap in the front).

Then you'll cut off the tiny top corner where two flaps meet, the tiny bottom corner where two flaps meet, and the portion on the right bottom side where the 4 1/2" score line and 5/8" score line meet.  Cut down the 4 1/2" line just until you meet the top horizontal line.  That will create your fold down flap for the front.  Here's what it should look like when you've done all these steps (the last one isn't visible in the picture):

Next you'll use a corner rounder and round all the corners (flaps included) except the bottom right corner.  You'll need to fold your flaps in to get to various corners to use your corner rounder.  I left the front flap folded downward.  It will look like this:

Next you're ready to assemble the pocket with adhesive.  I used scor-tape.  You could use sticky strip or whatever you prefer, but I tried the snail adhesive previously and it wasn't strong enough to hold the flaps closed.  You can either have the flaps hidden or showing.  I preferred hidden, like this:

Here is the front of the pocket, ready to decorate

The tag is simple- just a piece of cardstock 3 3/4" x 5" with the corners rounded.  I used a 1 1/2" circle and 1" circle of plain or patterned paper for where the ribbon goes through.  I scored each of them down the middle, put adhesive on the back and centered them on the tag.  Then I hole-punched through and added my ribbon.  For this one I used two solid papers:

For this tag I used the same papers as the pocket.

You can see that these pocket cards can be used for any occasion or theme.  Have fun!  Here are some more I've made lately...

Pocket Card Tutorial with free cut file

Today I'm excited to share with you a pocket card tutorial.  On a previous post, I shared a couple of pocket cards I made for Christmas.  I realized those were pretty small for normal card envelopes, but they fit perfectly in some extra smaller envelopes I had around from a previous Christmas.  So I decided to make a new template that fits better in a normal card envelope.  Due to my lack of math skills, it took a few tries, but here is what I came up with.  This is also my first picture tutorial so be patient with me. :)

[UPDATE: I created a free silhouette cut-file, click here]

Here is the finished card...

To start with, you'll need a piece of paper (double sided patterned works well) 8 5/8" x 6".

Turn the paper horizontally and using a scoring board, score down at 3/8" .

 Next, you'll score at 4 1/2"

 Then turn the paper vertically and score at 5/8".

Then you'll cut off the tiny bottom corner where the two flaps meet, and the portion on the right bottom side where the 4 1/2" score line and 5/8" score line meet.  This will create your flaps to close the pocket.

 Next you'll fold on the 4 1/2" score line (using a bone folder if you'd like).  You can also fold in the side and bottom flaps.

Now to create the curve in the front, I used a CD. You could use a circle die if you have one large enough (I didn't).  Or anything round (plate, lid, etc).  You can make the curve close to the top or further down depending on your preference.  I wanted some of the tag to show, so I put it down a couple of inches and then traced the bottom edge of the CD.

Next I cut off the part I just traced, with a straight line across the left flap and up the right side.  Keep this piece of paper for the tag that goes inside the pocket.

 Next we'll round the corners.  Start with the top of the left flap, then the bottom of that flap (you'll need to fold the bottom flap up to get the corner rounder in there).

Then you can do the bottom flap...

...and the top(back of envelope). Here's how the top will look once that is done.

Next we'll put some sticky strip or (scor-tape like I used) on the flaps.

Go ahead and remove the backing, and fold down the flaps.  This is the back of the pocket.  You could either have them showing like I do (hard to tell in the photo, sorry) or hidden like in other example below.

  

The pocket on the right has the flaps tucked inside, where the one on the left has them outside (visible).

Ok, so now you have your pocket, and you can decorate it however you choose.  

I decided on this one to put a snowflake in the corner.  It's actually two snowflake punches stacked on top of each other, with a pearl sticker on top.  I put a dimension dot on the bottom and in between the snowflakes for some height.  I also ran both snowflakes through the Big Shot with my Stampin Up! Chevron embossing folder.

Next comes the tag that will go inside the pocket. For this, you'll need a piece of cardstock 5 1/4" x 4".  I rounded the corners, then put a 1 1/2" circle of one patterned paper covered with a 1" circle of contrasting paper and folded in half over the top edge.  I used the scrap of paper left over after the CD tracing step for the circles.

Then I hole-punched through the center of the half-circles and added a ribbon. 

  

Another idea I tried is only rounding the top corners and then using an edger punch on the bottom.  This is a scroll punch from EK Success.

You can add a sentiment like I did on this one (oh, and I did a Christmas tree in the corner of this one)...

 ...or this one... (with a poinsettia sticker on the front).

Here are 3 finished pocket cards.  You can see the possibilities are endless, and can be used for any theme.  I think I'll try some for fall next...

 Thanks for stopping by, and please leave a comment if you enjoyed this.  I'd love to see your creations as well.

The latest...

I've been having some fun making Fall and Christmas cards lately... figured I might as well get started on them since I always have trouble finishing them up in time.  The first one is a freestanding pop-up card.  I found the tutorial for this here.

I love that it folds flat for mailing and fits in a regular card envelope.  Yet once opened, it makes such a statement!  

 This one I cased from the new Stampin' Up Holiday catalog.  I just cut out the wreath form that came with my Silhouette Studio software in two sizes and found a fun font to cut out "Joy" in metallic gold paper.  I used a wood-grained embossing folder for the white banner and some Christmas themed paper for the red banner and background paper.

 For this card, I found my inspiration here.  I used my Fiskar's Cloud punch to make the ice cream scoops, freehand cut the cone and printed the sentiment out on my printer.

 This next one is a fun new idea I tried after receiving one similar to it (baby themed) and making a template from it.  I'll call it a pocket card, and it's really quite easy once you figure out the measurements.   I love that it can go for any theme as well.

Here it is with the tag removed.  I love the double-sided Christmas paper I got last year.  The poinsettia sticker was an easy decoration for the front of the pocket.  

Here it is with a different Christmas paper and stamp.

For a photo tutorial, head over here.

Here's a side-step card I created for a birthday.  I found my inspiration here.

 This fall card has a sort of rustic feel.  I got my inspiration here for this one and the next card too.

For this one, I got my inspiration here.  I used the cloud punch again for the cupcake.  Love that it's so versatile.

 Thanks for stopping by!